Blessed Liquid
by Burnt Flower
Summary: A dying Sandshrew hates the sun with all his might, cursing it for his bitter existance. How will a Cacnea help him to survive in the most morbid manner?


**Author's Notes:** Written for a contestin Serebii. Rating for gore, violence and dark themes...the usual... 

**Disclaimer:** Don't doubt it - Pokemon isn't mine.

**Blessed Liquid**

Sandshrew hated the sun.

He hated it with every fiber of his being, with every hot mouthful of air he was able to breathe, and with every warm droplet of blood that ran down his scorching body and landed onto the dry ground. His poisonous hatred passed every boundary of reality as he lied dying on the burning sand, while the abhorrent sphere of light slowly killed him with its burning rays of heat. It was enjoying it - Sandshrew felt it deep inside his skin - it loved every moment of his destruction, while his weak body gradually started to rot, as he felt the merciless bright eyes on the back of his head.

Sandshrew's body was sprawled all alone in the worst part of the arid desert without any means for survival. His usually hard, brown outer skin was open in several places - gushing out scarlet blood from all the numerous openings while he had to continuously swat away all the hungry insects who wanted to eat away his softer, inner body. He felt so repulsed - so impotent, to feel all the urinal and excremental wastes surrounding his body; his putrid smell was attracting all the ravenous Pokemon who were waiting patiently for his death.

Sandshrew had futilely tried to use his white claws to dig for some water, but it only left him exhausted and with a relatively deep hole beside him that was soon covered by sand. He had tried to eat some of the insects that would continuously try to envelop his body, but they were extremely sour and left a bitter taste on his already dried tongue. He had tried to call for help to some lost Digletts that had strayed far away from their mountain home, but they had been quite indifferent to his grave state.

But those problems were absolutely insignificant compared to the cold nights of the desert. Sandshrew wryly marveled at how he endured the first night; he trembled even worse just by the thought of it. He had felt a suffocating panic overcoming him when his senses dimmed down as the black cloak of night shrouded the whole desert. Then the cold came; Sandshrew had foolishly thought that he was saved when the temperature dropped enough for his body to cool off. How wrong he had been. A sheet of icy particles had clung to his body - but Sandshrew hadn't been worried then. His solid armor had always protected him from the cold, and he had thought it would then - but the cold penetrated him through his open injuries. He shivered throughout the long night, and had let out puffs of hot breath as a vain attempt to warm himself. Fortunately, no carnivores devoured him that night, though when the detested sun came up once again, he felt that surviving had been a curse.

He was in hell itself, and it hadn't been Sandshrew himself who got in it. He snarled at the memory, and buried his claws deeper into the sand, as the past events unfolded inside his mind.

He had been a happy Sandshrew - ordinary, bland and without any elevated status as the rest of his group, but he had been quite happy. He had to fend on his own after being protected by his mother for six weeks, but he had been proud to be a relatively healthy and strong Sandshrew. He helped on the construction of their underground home - a complicated, narrow maze of tunnels that kept everyone cool at day and warm at night. They had always had the necessary food to survive; there would be some Sandshrews who would collect any edible plants, and other Sandshrews who would bring in dead insects and they would give each Sandshrew their fair share of food everyday. Though a Sandshrew could survive many days without drinking water, there was still a small pack of Sandshrews who were assigned to get water; those Sandshrews would sink their claws in cactuses, which were filled with water, and bring it back inside their mouths.

Everything had been perfect for Sandshrew - that was, until he reached his fourth birthday. Sandshrew had been blissfully ignorant before that date of how restless the male populations of Sandshrews were looking at all the female Sandshrews. Then it all changed, when he reached his fourth year - it was always in autumn, though he never knew the implications of that time of the year. He suddenly understood once his birthday had passed and his world expanded. It was mating season.

Inexperienced Sandshrews were not usually picked as mating partners, but Sandshrew had been too eager to be left behind. The Sandshrew courtship dances were complex moves using their claws to swipe the air diagonally and horizontally around the female, before rolling into a ball and creating extraordinary sandstorms to impress her. If the female accepted to mate, she would use her claws to create intricate designs in the ground - if the female refused, she would throw sand at the male's face.

Sandshrew cursed his stupidity as he mused over his next embarrassing actions.

Sandshrew had been immediately attracted to only one particular female Sandshrew, who always smelled like morning dew. Only able to copy the courtship dance from several other males, Sandshrew's skills were very limited and he courted that female Sandshrew awkwardly and without any grace. The first time, he accidentally scratched her in one of his enthusiastic swipes, while the indignant female buried him in the sand. The second time had been better, though some sand entered the female Sandshrew's eyes while Sandshrew tried to create a sandstorm; the female had promptly smacked him, leaving a long red gash on his cheek. Sandshrew never gave up however; always ignoring the snide chatter from the other male Sandshrews and the annoyed huffs from the females.

Sandshrew's eyes glinted dangerously, the sun reflecting in those two small beady eyes as he felt a new kind of hatred surge up inside him. He remembered how it happened.

Sandshrew hadn't been completely oblivious to one particular obstacle in his path towards courting the female Sandshrew; a quite burly Sandshrew had also been eyeing interestedly the same female Sandshrew, and would usually disdainfully poke Sandshrew's belly with one long claw. Since Sandshrew was new to this whole mating routine, he was left perplexed when this happened. The other male Sandshrews would snigger at his idiocy, and one day one of them muttered to Sandshrew that he was being challenged to a duel. His eyes had bugged out for several seconds, until he frantically asked him as to why he was being confronted. The male Sandshrews squealed mockingly and they told him in unison that he was being challenged for the right to copulate with that female Sandshrew. He had fainted on the spot.

The brawny Sandshrew asked him if he accepted the duel, while Sandshrew gave him a mock confident glare. They had both settled on the time and place the duel was going to take place; the muscular Sandshrew also advised that he was bringing some witnesses with him, and of course, the female Sandshrew in question. Sandshrew had feigned indifference, while he tried to hide his shaking paws.

It had been agreed that the fight would be at midday, since the duel would also determine who had the most resistance to the sun as well as strength. The spot where the fight was going to take place changed at the last moment, Sandshrew had been a bit puzzled at this unexpected turn of events, but scoffed to anyone nearby that he would win in any place anyway.

He arrived a bit late on that day, trying to buy some time, but no brilliant plan to escape that dangerous meeting came to his head. When he had seen the broad-shouldered Sandshrew, he puffed out his white chest defiantly though it deflated noticeably when he noticed the female Sandshrew staring at the muscular Sandshrew with unveiled admiration.

Some of the curious Sandshrew witnesses told Sandshrew the rules, though he only heard them half-interestingly since he had been watching jealously the female Sandshrew flirting coquettishly with his rival. Giving his foe his nastiest glare, Sandshrew went to one side of the sand arena, which was only a large rectangle traced in the sand. The stocky Sandshrew went to the other end, staring at Sandshrew with his harsh eyes. They had been like that for several tense seconds until someone gave a loud cry, and without any other notice, the large Sandshrew started to curl into a ball.

Sandshrew couldn't give it further thought because his adversary started rolling at such a high speed that left the spectators half-buried in the sand; his eyes widened for barely a second when he saw his challenger heading right towards him. He felt a tremendous impact on his torso, knocking the breath out of his lungs and making him fly several meters in the air. He landed painfully on his back but fortunately the sand cushioned most of the blow, though his ego wasn't as lucky.

He had heard uproarious laughter all around him coming from the mirthful crowd; Sandshrew had hidden his crestfallen face in his paws. One took pity on his state, and yelled out what he had to do in an exaggeratedly patient voice. Sandshrew's heart had skipped a beat when he heard it, but he still obeyed those instructions, making insolent faces at the muscular Sandshrew.

He pressed all his limbs and head on his underbelly while curling himself into a protective ball; he had almost no visibility in this form, except for a narrow slit of light where his legs would usually be. A loud roar from the crowd, and once again Sandshrew felt that great collision on his body, sending him flying once again, though this time he was prepared for it. Once he felt he was once again on the ground, he started propelling himself forward with all the momentum and energy he felt inside himself. He could barely see where his foe was, but he felt it in the ground itself where his tracks led and knew it was the right way.

His body had rammed against that larger and firmer form, and tried to use all his power to push him away. He had never wanted something so much as winning in that moment - the female Sandshrew hadn't even been on his mind when he struggled for victory. All he had felt was the rough taste of sand in his mouth, the sweet smell of sweat on his forehead, and the pure joy of adrenaline in his blood.

He grunted and tried to maintain his ground when he felt the hard body of his adversary slowly shoving him away; Sandshrew started rolling even faster against him in fear of losing the fight. They were digging themselves inside the sand from all the exertion, and then Sandshrew felt his foe retreating. He almost cried in happiness when this happened, being able to see his larger form slowly going the opposite direction. The burly Sandshrew had been almost out of the ring, and Sandshrew had started to unroll himself and was about to proclaim himself victorious, when it happened.

Just when he was only centimeters from crossing the traced rectangle, the stocky Sandshrew abruptly changed directions and was rolling at maximum speed towards Sandshrew. Surprised by this sudden turn of events, Sandshrew could only stare in a paralyzed haze as the humongous shape of his rival zoomed towards him. That haze was soon gone when he felt the crashing noise of his own skin against his and he was sent tumbling across the ground, scraping roughly his outer skin. His enemy cruelly rammed against him once again, leaving no time for Sandshrew to recover.

Only hearing his own frightened screams, he sailed across the air and landed roughly in a pile of rocks. He awaited the raucous laughter once more, but he only heard a collective gasp from the audience. He forced one swollen eye open, and the sight in front of him made his broken jaw fall open in horror.

His adversary was just a formless mass of bright light that was changing shapeat an incredible rate. Sandshrew stared transfixed at the sight, and his brain couldn't process the impending defeat as the sphere of white brightness grew larger and more ominous with each second that passed. It had stopped suddenly, and Sandshrew couldn't have helped himself for staring in awe at his rival.

Sandslash stared at his gleaming, long claws with a mix of surprise and delight. He checked every inch of his changed body in amazement; his muscled arms and legs, his formidable body, and the frightening brown spikes that ran all along his back were all inspected carefully by the newly evolved Sandslash.

And then he had smiled at Sandshrew.

It was the most disturbing and gruesome smile Sandshrew had ever seen in his short life. It was full of macabre pleasure - almost predatorily twisted in a horrible smirk.

Sandshrew knew in that moment that he was done for.

Sandshrew didn't do anything when Sandslash had rolled once more into a humongous spiky ball and went towards him with amazing speed. The crowd cheered him onwards, among them Sandshrew's ecstatic female, and Sandshrew closed his eyes as a sign of utter failure.

Then came the pain.

It was more pain that he had ever endured in his life; he almost felt his soul shatter and he screamed terribly as the massive spikes ripped open his relatively soft skin. Scarlet blood flowed down his tortured body and pooled down towards the end of each of Sandslash's spikes; Sandslash felt it and cried in pleasure as he buried his bloodied spikes even deeper into his barely conscious foe. Sandshrew's hard outer skin were no match for the pointy spikes that impaled themselves in his skin and drew forth even more thick crimson blood. It finally cracked and exposed the softer skin underneath it for Sandslash's amused eyes; with a cry of profound victory, one of Sandslash's claws sent Sandshrew's mangled body into the air.

While he was momentarily in the air, his blood dripped down and slightly covered Sandslash's head as some sort of morbid rain. Sandshrew landed outside the arena, but Sandshrew was past caring. Sandshrew's trembling, blood-soaked body was a gory spectacle for the curious Sandshrews who all crowded around him for a better look. Some of them poked him in the back, and then recoiled in disgust as some of his blood stained their white claws. Their attention soon diverted towards Sandslash who was snuggling up with the female Sandshrew as she drew majestic designs in the sand.

All the Sandshrews proclaimed loudly that their new leader was the triumphant Sandslash. Everyone cheered as one when Sandslash lifted one of his clawed hands in the air, while stating firmly to everyone that the female Sandshrew was his. She stared at him adoringly, and gave Sandshrew's beaten form a look of utter revulsion while they all went away from Sandshrew to build a new colony.

Sandshrew damned them and all their future children, as the memories finally stopped unrolling from his mind.

He drew a crude drawing of his once lusted female Sandshrew and he sunk his entire claw in it. He laughed manically when he crossed out her face and then erased her completely. He also drew the Sandslash and once he completed his picture, he coughed roughly and spitted into his face. He regretted it immediately, however, once he felt his throat even drier than before.

After he imagined several painful scenarios of torture for them, he let himself feel the wave of depression that he had tried to restrain. He didn't exactly miss that female Sandshrew, though he had always wished with all his heart for children to carry on his legacy. A sad smile graced his face as he imagined what could've been; he would've been, once again, a happy Sandshrew, butwith a beautiful mate and many small, cute infants who would've carried his blood in their veins for many years to come.

Reality took him away from this fantasy, once he felt the scorching rays of the sun pounding his body. The most realistic wish he had now was for a quick, painless death instead of his current agony. He glared at the ravenous Pokemon waiting for him to stop breathing; he wouldn't give them the satisfaction of eating his body - even if it meant he would die quicker.

After a few hours, they got bored and went to look for an easier meal and they'd come back once Sandshrew died. He smiled crookedly at their retreating figures, proud at himself for this small victory. The insects were another matter, and he gave them a half-hearted swipe at them. He scooped them all and munched on their small bodies; he grimaced at the awful taste, but told himself that there was no other source of food. He didn't like the idea of starving to death.

The sun was still high up in the sky once the hungry Pokemon left, and Sandshrew suffered the heat in silence. He could almost feel death's icy fingers on his overheated skin, and he welcomed them with joy until he abruptly opened his eyes when he heard a suspicious noise. It was the sound of someone coming.

He could see that it was a small creature, though it was still bigger than the other carnivorous Pokemon that had surrounded him before. It was quite far away, though he could see that it was coming closer to him; every muscle in Sandshrew's body tensed for its arrival. Once it was near enough, he could see that the creature was green, with darkish green spikes all around its body. It was a short, round creature with large stubby arms, and a yellowish sort of crown perched on top of its bulgy head. Several holes on its face made it seem as if it was smiling, and its strange, deep eyes had a weird, merry glow in them.

Sandshrew was unnerved by it, and tried to ready himself for an incoming attack. When it was much closer, Sandshrew was bemused that it was humming some sort of tune and swinging its club-like hands cheerfully. Once it was barely a feet away from him, Sandshrew prepared to defend himself, when the thing tripped.

It waved its arms around to keep itself balanced while desperately crying out, "Cacnea!" It was all futile, as the plump creature presumably named 'Cacnea' fell on top of Sandshrew's battered body. Sandshrew, mistaking this for the attack of a hostile creature, weakly swiped the Cacnea's belly with a sharp claw.

Cacnea squealed in pain and immediately stood up from the frantic Sandshrew. It stared in alarm at the red cut on its belly though fortunately for Cacnea, it wasn't deep. Cacnea shouted indignantly at him while the bewildered Sandshrew could only watch it totally confused. Cacnea huffed in annoyance and sent a small Pin Missile attack in retaliation; it was just about to leave when Sandshrew gave it another blow, believing that the Cacnea was trying to kill him.

Cacnea screeched at him and now totally angered, it lifted one its heavy arms and sent it crashing towards Sandshrew's bruised head. Sandshrew tried to get away from it, but he received most of the attack directly on his head. He felt so exhausted by this that he was just about ready to surrender, when he felt it.

Spines. So remarkably similar to the ones Sandslash had.

That's when Sandshrew completely lost it.

With an insane cry, Sandshrew leapt to his feet, completely ignoring the injuries covering all his body. Cacnea, surprised by this turn of events, tried to calm the Sandshrew down by using its arms in a soothing gesture.

Sandshrew snarled at this blatant display of aggression, and created a gigantic sandstorm with his paws, that completely surrounded them. Sandshrew smiled when he saw the sand whipping harshly against Cacnea's body, while it tried to keep the sand away from its eyes. When Cacnea felt steadied enough on the soft ground, it started whirling around at an incredible speed and created a humongous tornado that immediately sent the sand away.

Sandshrew bellowed and curled himself into a ball to ram against the agitated Cacnea. It widened its eyes and crossed its arms to protect itself from the frenetic Sandshrew's attack. Once Sandshrew was inches away, Cacnea sent Sandshrew backwards with one strike of its powerful arms. Sandshrew growled in pain, and they both stared at each other's eyes intently before running at full speed towards each other.

Sandshrew jumped high into the air with a powerful kick into the ground, and extended both of his clawed paws directly towards Cacnea's unprotected head when he felt himself falling. Cacnea was ready for him and shot a precise spine towards Sandshrew's fierce form, sending him completely off-target.

Sprawled across the ground, Sandshrew urged himself to stand up. If this was to be his last battle he wanted for once to be the winner - even if it was for some seconds or it'd cost him his life. Sandshrew hacked and spat a slimy ball of blood and saliva, but then determinedly stood up on shaky legs. Cacnea didn't let the opportunity pass while his foe was on the floor; the whole sand was covered in green spines that gleamed against the sun. Sandshrew, completely unaware of the reality of his injuries and his actions, didn't let the spikes faze him and mocked Cacnea by stepping on one of them without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Cacnea shrieked in fury and became a rapid black shadow as it used Faint Attack, appearing on the back of Sandshrew and delivering a cruel blow to the head. Sandshrew stood paralyzed several seconds in a sort of a panic-stricken trance, before collapsing on the sand. Cacnea gave a cry of victory and his green arms glowed for a final attack.

Whimpering in pain, Sandshrew felt the tight squeeze of several vines surrounding his fallen body. Sandshrew screamed out as he felt the vines sapping away his very essence away from his core. Baring his teeth, he tried to bite the firm vines with his teeth, but he immediately let go as he felt the vines burn his tongue. This was so much worse than the sun itself - Sandshrew felt his soul leaving him and going towards the happy Cacnea, whose injuries were slowly starting to close.

Fighting against his restraints, Sandshrew started to edge closer to the smiling Cacnea; its eyes were closed as it felt the pleasant sensation of its energy coming back to it. Once Sandshrew was close enough, he bared his teeth and sunk his fangs in Cacnea's soft belly.

Cacnea's impotent screams were loud and deafening, but Sandshrew was completely oblivious to it. His mouth was rapidly being filled with a cascade of warm blood and he bit harder to get more out, when he felt something else in its salty red essence.

Water.

Cacnea walloped him away from his bleeding belly, but at the same time, the vines around Sandshrew loosened up enough for him to get out. Cacnea's blood dripped down Sandshrew's white jaw, but Sandshrew could only remember the sweet taste of the water inside of Cacnea's body.

Sandshrew smiled at Cacnea. The same feral, appalling smile that Sandslash had once given him, once he was so sure of his victory.

He wanted more.

Cacnea was panting, while using one of its thick arms to cover the wound; Sandshrew noticed something peculiar about it - the hole in its stomach was starting to sizzle. It was barely visible, but it was there. Cacnea was starting to sweat even more when the clear liquid from his stomach was trickling down to the burning sand. It stared at the sun pleadingly, and didn't notice Sandshrew getting even closer to him.

With something resembling a howl, Sandshrew buried both of his claws into Cacnea, feeling the cool liquid against his hot paws. Cacnea began screaming in unimaginable pain, trying to desperately swat away the excruciating intruders inside it. Its body started to smoke heavily as its water resource slowly started to slip away from it and the pitiless sun started to scorch its body; it was getting gaunter and skinnier and its once proud, healthy green skin draped across its dehydrated frame. With a final screech filled with unbearable pain, Cacnea slumped to the floor in a pool of blood and water.

Sandshrew, once he was sure Cacnea was dead, slowly took out both of his wet claws out of their comfortable interior. Licking one up, he grinned once he felt the cool taste of water in his tongue. He sniffed Cacnea's defeated corpse and swallowed the sweet liquids inside Cacnea's fallen body.

Staring at the sky and bowing lowly, he grinned.

Sandshrew loved the sun.

* * *


End file.
